Melbourne Gaol/AFL Game at Melbourne Cricket Grounds

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Dagan's got her now!

Third floor of the gaol

first floor of the gaol

We went to the Melbourne Gaol this morning. It was interesting and a little creepy. We wandered in and out of the jail cells reading about the different inmates and conditions they lived in. The infamous Ned Kelly had a section to himself. He was a legend in Australia. He was in a large siege when he was captured. He wore armor that he had made himself. It held off a few gunshots, but they captured him in the end. He was hung at the Melbourne Gaol. They had the scaffold in the gaol. By the time we had looked at the third floor, Dagan had had enough. This place gave him the creeps. He was more than ready to leave.

Different items used at the gaol.

Adam tried on a replica of Ned Kelly's armor.

Ned Kelly's armor

We went to the Library of Victoria next to see the actual armor that Ned Kelly had created and wore in the gun battle. It was interesting to see. There was a dent from a bullet right between his eyes. They ended up shooting him in the legs to bring him down.

A view of the AFL game

In the afternoon, we saw Collingwood and Richmond play AFL or Aussie rules football.  Adam read up on the teams we watched today. Collingwood has been around since 1892, and Richmond has been around since 1908. Collingwood is the most popular Australian sports team. We had heard about this team when the family we went canyoning with told us to go to an AFL game when we went to Melbourne. They told us people either love them or hate them. We went to the Melbourne Cricket Grounds for the game. There were probably 80,000 people at the game.  We were in the nosebleed section. It took a little while to figure out how most of the game works. They have to kick the ball through the goal post.  There are four goalposts.  Kicking the ball through the short ones are worth 1 point and, kicking the ball through the tall ones are 6 points. The ball continually moves. The players kick and pass the ball to each other.   If they run with the ball, they either bounce it once before kicking it, or stop, move backward, and then kick. We still don't totally understand it, but it was fun to watch. In this game, they get really high scores. After it was over, all four of us decided we liked this type better than footy which we watch in Wollongong.

Ending score

We wandered through Federation Square again after the game. A dance troupe from Sydney was performing. We decided to have Greek tonight. They have these souvlaki down here. They remind us of a gyro. We got a couple if these. They were really good.

We enjoyed our last day in Melbourne.

Melbourne Museum/Laneways/Federation Square

Friday, April 19, 2013

The Museum had "artsy" displays

Sydney is in the ant display.

Animals on display

We went to the Melbourne Museum this morning. It had some interesting displays. One of the most interesting was the area with the stuffed animals. There were computers with cameras aimed at them. When you touched the animal on the computer screen, it provided the name and a description. It was very interactive. We also liked the insects, ocean, and rock displays.

Dagan was looking at all the animals using the computer.

Dagan liked this painting.

Some of the graffiti

More graffiti

Cool elephant

Federation Square

We went back to the hotel for some lunch. Then Adam wanted us to find the different Laneways in the city. They have showcased their alleyways with graffiti art, cafes, shops, and restaurants. Some were done better than others, but we had fun zigzagging our way around Melbourne. We ended up at Federation Square.  This is a city block where the citizens of the city meet. The buildings were very interesting.

We made the big screen in Federation Square.

A different view of the buildings

For dinner, we decided to try something different. We went for Korean at Gami. This restaurant specialized in Korean style fried chicken. We got the original and sweet soy garlic. Both were really good. I decided we needed to try something else, too, so I ordered something the waitress recommended. It ended up being super spicy. It was really good, but the spiciness eventually got to both Adam and me and both kids decided to pass on even trying it.

We got some gelato on the way back to the hotel. Adam and I tried the durian. This is that fruit that has the horrible smell.  The taste probably would have been ok, but the smell was really bad. Then we called it a night. We played some cards and watched some tv before heading to bed.

Melbourne/Melbourne Aquarium

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Sydney's team had duty this morning and no games. She brought her stuff to us early, and we got checked out of the cottage. We were headed to Melbourne today.  Since volleyball ended earlier than we expected, we were able to head out mid morning which was nice.

The two baby penguins.  The one bobs his head until he falls over and wakes up.

Gentoo Penguin

King Penguin

It was a 3 hour ride to Melbourne.  Since we arrived in Melbourne before we could check into our hotel, we decided to go to the Melbourne Aquarium.  It isn't the largest aquarium, but we enjoyed it.  We saw the penguins when we first entered.  They had king penguins and Gentoo penguins.  They are the 2nd and 3rd largest penguins in the world.  They really were big.  The king penguins had beautiful colors and the Gentoo are great swimmers.  There were two baby penguins in the exhibit.  They had fluffy brownish-black feathers.  They looked enormous.

Leafy sea dragon

Weedy sea dragon

The blue fish Dagan was chasing.

Sydney and Dagan getting eaten by a prehistoric shark

Cool fish, but don't remember the name

Nautilus

The other exhibit we really enjoyed was the seahorse area.  They had all different types.  We also saw a coral reef.  Dagan kept chasing a blue fish around the circular tank because he wanted a picture of it.  We also saw a nautilus, jellyfish, and some fish I can't remember the name.  In the shark and ray tank, they had some huge rays.  They were impressive.  A sea turtle in the tank kept trying to bite the scuba divers.  It was funny.  As we walked out, they had a rainforest area.  The green tree frogs were really bright.  We had a good few hours.

Look at the size of the ray compared to my family

Moon Jellyfish

Green tree frog

After visiting the aquarium, we checked into our hotel.  I lucked out and picked a place that is right downtown near everything we want to see/do while we are here.  Adam found a place for us to eat.  It advertised American food.  Adam and Sydney got burgers that tasted like home (not meatloaf on a bun); Dagan got a chili dog, and I got a club sandwich.  It was awesome.  I have a feeling we will be going here again before we leave Melbourne. 

Volleyball

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

That's my girl! Look at the height difference from the player standing behind her.

Sydney's team

 Sydney's volleyball games were at 10:30 and 1:30, so we hung around the cottage in the morning until the first game began. They played tough against Norewood, but were beaten. The three of us took a break for lunch in between matches. The next match was tough. They played Heathfield. They ended up playing 5 games and winning the last game 15-13. They played for over 2 hours. Sydney is the only setter, so she didn't come out at all.  She was rather tired after this match.  Since they won this match, they ended up having another game at 6:00pm.

View of Albury from the War Memorial

War Memorial

Here comes Dagan up the hill.

We left again to run Dagan a little. We went to the War Memorial. Dagan walked down to the bottom of the steep hill, and we timed how quick he made it up. He decided to do this 2 times. We were going to head back to the cottage, but there was an accident and the road was closed, so back to the sport center we went.

Look at the height difference again.

When we went to get seats for the match, Dagan said we were not sitting next to Stinkapuss.  This mom sat near us this morning and had way to much perfume on. We just couldn't breathe all that in  again. The girls played hard in their final match, but just couldn't pull it off. We were impressed with how well Sydney played overall. She was the most consistent server and did a really good job getting to the second ball to set up the hitters.  Her team ended up in 6th place out of 13 teams.

Sydney back setting

Who do you think has the better chance at a block?

After the match, Adam, Dagan, and I went back to play video games. I ended up beating Adam and getting the high score in Galaga.  Dagan cheered for me.

Albury/Hume Dam/Volleyball/Army Museum

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Hume Dam

Hume Lake

Sydney's first game was at noon, so the three of us had breakfast and then did a little exploring. We went over the the Hume Dam. When it was completed in 1913 it was one of the largest in the world. Hume Lake is a reservoir. It is larger than it appears. It is hard to get an idea of its size because the land surrounding it is large hills without many trees.

The cows crossing the road.

We headed into town next. On the way, we had to wait for cows to cross the road. We are city enough that watching cows cross the road made us laugh and take pictures. We had a few errands to run in town and went to the city gallery.  It was ok. I was hoping it would have been better.

Sydney showing us a good set.

She is getting ready to receive the serve.

Then it was time to head to Sydney's game. Her team played well. They won three games. The first and last were close. They won by 2 points. Sydney did well setting and serving. She is getting her hands on the ball just about every time even when the ball is not passed directly to her. She said they had duty 2 times today. One was after her game.

tank

This was the only vehicle you could get in.

Missiles

You can find a Harley everywhere.

Does he look like he is enjoying this?

We decided to head out. We went back to our cabin for lunch, and then we went to the Army Museum. It was really large and very interesting. We didn't know what to expect, but were impressed. Dagan really liked all the vehicles and big guns. It was a good way to spend the afternoon.

Tonight was the team dinner. We met them at the Commercial Club. They have these in every town. It was huge. We ate a buffet dinner, and it was rather inexpensive compared to going to a regular restaurant for dinner.